Chapter 7 : The Encounter

The next morning arrived unsettlingly peaceful. The sunlight filtered through the curtains, illuminating the entire room.

For a few moments, Khushi simply lay there quiet, reminiscing the events of the previous night which feels unreal now. The almost-kiss she absolutely refused to think about.

A faint warmth spread across her cheeks as she recalled it and immediately buried her face into the pillow.

"Stop thinking about it."

She groaned into the mattress, chiding herself.

After another minute of embarrassing self-torture, she finally sat up and noticed that the room was empty.

She looked around and didn't find Arnav in the room. A slight frown appeared on her face.

"Arnav?" No answer.

Strange.

Putting her slippers on, Khushi stepped outside the room.

~

The house was unusually quiet. The kitchen was empty, The living room was empty, Even the guest room was deserted.

"Arnav?"

She called again but still nothing.

Then her footsteps quickened. Something felt wrong and she couldn't explain why.

Then she noticed the door leading to the backyard, it was open. She distinctly remembered locking it the previous night.

Slowly, she approached the doorway, her heartbeat accelerating. The back door stood slightly ajar and a cool morning breeze slipped through the narrow gap, causing the curtains to sway gently.

Khushi frowned as she was certain she hadn't left it open. An uneasy feeling began settling in the pit of her stomach.

Pushing the door wider, she stepped forward and immediately felt something strange beneath her foot. It was not the hard surface of the floor, it was not water also but something thick and wet.

For a brief second her mind refused to process it. Then she slowly looked down.

Dark red liquid spread across the pale stone floor near the threshold and it glistened beneath the sunlight. It was fresh.

A smear stretched beneath her foot.

For one horrifying moment she simply stared, unable to move. The metallic smell reached her a second later.

A blood-curling scream tore from her throat.

She stumbled back violently, nearly losing her balance. Her heart slammed against her ribs.

The blood stretched across the stone floor near the entrance. It was not enough for a human. But enough to trigger every terrifying possibility imaginable.

A thousand horrible possibilities crashed through her mind at once.

Was someone hurt?

Had someone broken in?

Was Arnav-

No, no, no.

Her eyes frantically searched the area and then she saw it. A trail...tiny droplets stretched toward the backyard, leading her gaze directly to the figure standing near the neem tree.

Arnav.

Relief flooded her chest so suddenly that her knees nearly gave way but it only lasted a second. Because as she looked closer, she noticed his hand.

Blood had stained his fingers. Suddenly the relief disappeared, placed by something else.

Fear.

Her trembling gaze dropped to the ground beside him and froze when she saw what laid. A dead bird on the grass.

Arnav turned to her and spoke out quietly. "They found me."

His words didn't even registered on her mind as she stared unblinkingly at the dead bird beside him.

"What did you do?" A low snarl escaped her.

Arnav froze hearing her.

"I didn't kill it."

The answer came immediately like he had been expecting the accusation.

Khushi laughed which was devoid of any humour.

"Then explain the dead bird lying near you! Explain the blood! Explain why you were standing here alone! Explain why every impossible thing happening somehow always leads back to you?!" Her voice rose with each sentence.

"This morning," he said quietly, "I heard something...not outside," His jaw tightened. "But something inside my head."

A chill crept through Khushi.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know but there was continuous flapping sound inside my head and I couldn't sleep." His voice sounded frustrated now. "I woke up because something felt wrong. So I came out of the room and went downstairs."

His gaze drifted toward the dead sparrow.

"And it was already here."

Khushi remained silent but the suspicion in her eyes were obvious as they kept drifting to the blood on his hand.

"That's not the bird's blood." Arnav immediately looked at her.

"What?" She stepped forward cautiously.

"When I picked it up..." He swallowed. "I was suddenly attacked from behind."

Her eyes fixed on his palm. There was a cut, a deep one almost as though something had sliced straight across his skin.

"Who attacked you?!"

Arnav didn't answer her immediately but looked straight into her eyes. "Did you lock every door last night?"

"I did."

Every window?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

Khushi opened her mouth and then stopped because suddenly she wasn't sure anymore. The memory felt oddly distant and foggy like someone had reached into her mind and smudged it.

"I..." A strange panic rose inside her. "I think so."

Arnav immediately caught the hesitation and his expression darkened. "You think so?"

"I remember locking it."

"Remember or think?" He asked insistingly.

And the distinction terrified her because she couldn't answer. The memory kept slipping away every time she tried to focus on it.

"They're not supposed to come this close."

The silence that followed felt heavier than anything else that morning because for the first time since arriving, Arnav looked genuinely unprepared. And that meant whatever had entered the house last night wasn't holding back anymore.

Then Arnav turned toward the house so abruptly that she flinched.

"The bird is a reminder," he said, his voice suddenly sharp with urgency. "A warning."

"Of what?"

He looked at the blood on his hand as if seeing it properly for the first time.

"An intruder."

The word hit her like a rock. "What are you talking about?"

But Arnav was already moving.

He grabbed her wrist firmly enough that she understood something had changed and pulled her back toward the house.

~

When they reached the threshold, he crouched beside the bloodstain immediately.

Khushi stood stilled.

"This isn't random," he muttered.

His fingers hovered over the floor without touching it.

"See this?"

Only now did she notice it.

The blood wasn't pooled.

It was dragged.

A thin smear ran across the tiled floor toward the hallway.

Her stomach dropped.

"Someone was inside," she breathed.

Arnav's jaw tightened.

"There was an intruder inside while we were sleeping."

Khushi felt the world tilt. She had slept peacefully upstairs, while someone had been in her house. Arnav had fought them when the felt its presence.

Her gaze flew to his injured hand. "I woke up before dawn because something felt wrong. Like someone was already here."

"Then I came downstairs. The back door was closed. The house looked normal."

Khushi's breath caught. "Then what happened?"

For a moment, Arnav didn't answer and when he finally did, his voice had become dangerously quiet. "I remember seeing a figure near the hallway. I remember grabbing them and I remember them cutting my hand." His bloodied fingers curled slowly.

"And then..." He looked genuinely disturbed now. "Then there's a gap."

Khushi stared at him. "A gap?"

"A few seconds. Maybe minutes. I don't know."

"The next thing I remember waking up outside beside the dead bird."

Khushi's pulse hammered painfully in her ears. That wasn't an ordinary intruder and Arnav knew it.

The reality of what had happened was only beginning to settle over her. Someone had entered her house. And Khushi doesn't even know how she had slept through all of that.

"Sit." The word escaped her before she could think.

Arnav blinked. "What?"

"You're injured."

"It's nothing." Khushi shot him a look, the kind that had always silenced him years ago.

Arnav sighed. For reasons he didn't entirely understand, he obeyed. He settled onto the couch while Khushi hurried toward the cabinet near the staircase.

Her pulse was still racing, when she reached for the first-aid box, her elbow accidentally brushed against a small photo frame resting on the shelf.

"Oh!"

The frame toppled and fell. It landed face-down against the floor with a sharp crack.

Khushi immediately crouched. "Tch..Sorry, sorry..."

She picked it up carefully and the photograph stared back at her.

Dozens of students squeezed together for a group photograph beneath the banyan tree near the administration building. As she went down to the memory lane, Khushi found herself smiling slightly despite everything.

A younger version of herself grinned brightly at the camera, absolutely carefree and unaware of how much life could change..but the smile lingered only briefly because reality returned.

Arnav.

Quickly placing the photograph back onto the shelf, she grabbed the first-aid kit and hurried toward the living room.

~

When she returned, Arnav was staring out the window, almost troubled and alert. Khushi sat beside him and took his injured hand carefully.

Khushi opened the first aid box and began carefully dabbing antiseptic onto the cut across his palm.

For a brief moment, everything felt almost normal.

Arnav suddenly stiffened and Khushi noticed it immediately. The muscles in his shoulders locked as his gaze snapped toward the front door.

"Arnav?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, he rose to his feet so abruptly that the first-aid kit nearly slipped from her lap and a strange tension filled the room.

The atmosphere was suddenly heavy.

Then-

BANG!

The front door exploded inwards and the sound was deafening. Pieces of wood flew across the room as the hinges groaned in the impact.

Khushi flinched violently and a startled cry escaped her lips.

Arnav's face lost all color. "No." The word emerged almost like a whisper.

Three figures covered with black clothing from the head to the toe stood at the entrance. One of the masked men stepped forward.

"Return with us."

Khushi panicked on hearing that.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" she demanded.

No one acknowledged her as the men continued advancing. That made something fierce ignited inside her instantly.

"Hey!"

She stepped directly in front of Arnav in an attempt to shield him. "Stop!"

The men didn't stop. The lead figure tilted his head slightly at her stance, almost curiously.

Arnav grabbed her wrist. "Khushi."

She looked back. For the first time since she'd known him, she saw genuine panic in his eyes.

"Move." Arnav growled.

"No."

"Khushi."

The lead figure suddenly lunged before Khushi could blink and then everything happened at once.

Arnav shoved her aside and the masked man collided with him instead.

Furniture crashed. The coffee table flipped over and cups shattered across the floor. The room erupted into chaos.

Two more figures joined the struggle. Arnav fought like someone desperate. Years of fear and despair of survival exploded into motion.

A punch landed on his face.

Arnav used all his strength and shoved the person back. The leader's body slammed against the wall, while one of the masked men crashed into a shelf.

Photographs instantly scattered across the floor, frames shattering. Khushi grabbed the nearest thing she could find. A heavy ceramic vase.

Then without thinking-

She swung it down hard.

The vase connected with a masked man's shoulder and a sickening crack echoed. The man barely reacted and slowly his head turned toward her. And then sight of killing intent in his eyes made her blood run cold.

The man moved far too fast and his gloved hand caught her wrist so roughly that the remaining broken vase slipped from her fingers, clattering uselessly across the floor.

A hiss left her as pain shot up her arm.

"Khushi!" Arnav's voice ripped through the room. He broke free from the others and charged toward her.

For one brief second, hope surged inside her. But then the third masked figure struck him from behind.

Arnav staggered, blood appearing near his temple.

"No!" Khushi screamed and fought harder. She kicked, scratched and even bit fiercely.

The masked man finally released her, pushing her aside as she stumbled backward and then straight into the side table. The corner slammed into her ribs painfully making her cry out. Khushi's vision blurred momentarily.

Through the haze she saw them surrounding Arnav. Three against one. It was efficient.

They weren't trying to kill him. They were trying to take him away instead. And that terrified her even more.

Arnav's eyes found hers across the room.

For a brief second everything else disappeared and only him remained along with his bloodshot eyes. There was-

Apology

And

Regret.

And something heartbreakingly close to goodbye in his eyes.

Then a gloved hand appeared behind Khushi making her gasp. Suddenly, something cold pressed against the side of her neck.

Khushi's body froze instantly.

The room tilted, sounds became distant, then became muffled, like she was sinking underwater.

The last thing she saw was Arnav struggling against their grip and the last thing she heard was her name.

Before darkness swallowed everything.

~

The floor was cold, uncomfortably cold.

Khushi frowned as pain shot into her.

A dull ache pulsed at the back of her neck.

For several moments she simply remained where she was, eyes closed, trying to understand why her entire body felt stiff.

Then she opened her eyes. The living room's ceiling stared back at her.

Khushi blinked. Once and then twice.

Confusion immediately flooded her face. Why was she downstairs?

Slowly she pushed herself upright and took in her surroundings. The blanket from her bedroom wasn't here, neither was her pillow. Nothing made sense.

Her brows furrowed. The last thing she remembered was going to sleep. She distinctly remembered lying down, pulling the blanket over herself and then closing her eyes.

But now, she was on the living room floor.

"What..." Her voice sounded strange. She looked around inspecting carefully.

The house was quiet and perfectly normal.

Khushi then rubbed her eyes. Maybe she had sleepwalked. While this explanation sounded ridiculous, so did waking up on the floor.

As she began standing up slowly, a wave of dizziness hit her immediately and her hand instinctively reached for the nearby table.

"Ouch!" She hissed slightly as a tiny shred of glass cut through her finger.

"What's this glass doing here now? Did I knock over something while sleepwalking? Tch.." Khushi hit her head lightly and went to look for the first aid kit.

On her way, a small stain on the edge of the couch made her pause. She crouched to inspect. "What's this now...?"

Red.

The stain was red. Not quite obvious but enough if someone looked closely enough.

"I will clean it later." Khushi shrugged and walked past the couch.

The stain remained on the couch.

The harsh sunlight continued to spread across the living room, illuminating everything exactly as it was. Everything...except what was missing.

And somehow-

it was the only absence she never noticed.

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Heyaaaaa I am back!!! It's been long this chapter is the longest one I have written so far. Enjoy reading let me know how it was.